Dawit L. Petros, Single Cube Formation, No. 2, Santa Barbara, CA, Chromogenic print, 30 x 36", 2011.
Image courtesy of Alexander Gray Associates, New York, NY


The Print Studio Presents:
Dawit L. Petros: Mahber Shaw'ate (Association of 7)
Curated by Sally Frater
April 20 – June 2, 2012
Opening reception: Friday May 11, 7:00 – 10:00 pm
Artist Talk: Wednesday May 16, 7:00 pm

Mahber Shaw'ate (Association of 7), are photographs of temporary installations that investigate permutational possibilities and the disjuncture between physical and abstract materiality. The works appropriate the framework of an east African alphabet script (Tigrinya, Petros' first language) and cardboard boxes. Petros integrates performative strategies, sculpture, and installation with legacies of studio and landscape imagery. The arrangements were constructed in locations ranging from Santa Barbara, California; Saskatoon, Saskatchewan to Nazareth, Ethiopia. The works merge possibilities inherent to specific cultural references: an African alphabet (a parallel model for seriality) and minimalist traditions. Petros' photographs present a hybridized third form, which extracts liberally from both.

Dawit L. Petros mixed media installations are rooted in photography but engage liberally with the language of sculpture, performance, and painting. His works juxtapose an array of physical and cultural spaces. He employs abstraction as an act of translation to push against naturalized ways of understanding form, color, and subjectivity. By drawing upon cultural practices rooted in global modernist histories, Petros' artistic language enables a metaphorically rich articulation of the fluidity and contingency of contemporary African experiences.

Petros studied Art as a Fulbright Fellow at Tufts University/School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Concordia University, Montreal and History at the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon. Recent and upcoming exhibitions sites include The National Museum of African Art in Washington, DC; The Durban Art Gallery in Durban; The World Festival of Black Arts and Culture in Dakar; Atalier Gallery in Addis Ababa; The Nasher Museum of Art in Durham; The Museum of Contemporary Art in Detroit; The Royal Ontario Museum of Art in Toronto; and The Studio Museum in Harlem. Petros has been awarded an Art Matters Fellowship, Canada Council Production Grants, and residencies at the McColl Center for Visual Art and the Studio Museum in Harlem.

Mahber Shaw'ate (Association of 7) is co-presented by Third Space Art Projects. The artist will also conduct a residency supported by Turkstra Lumber. The artist talk will be held at 126/128 James St. North at the Urban Arts Initiative in Hamilton.

Media Contact: Sally Frater: programming@theprintstudio.ca
Gallery hours: Wed - Fri 12 am - 5 pm, Sat 11am to 5 pm
The Print Studio, 173 James Street North, Hamilton, ON, L8R 2K9, Tel: 905.524.2415 | www.theprintstudio.ca | info@theprintstudio.ca. The Print Studio gratefully acknowledges the support of our membership and The Ontario Arts Council, the Ontario Trillium Foundation, Hamilton Community Foundation, the City of Hamilton and the Department of Canadian Heritage.